


Lay it on the Line

by badgerpride89



Series: Afterword [4]
Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Gen, jefferson is a good dad, peter is kind of a troll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 12:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17345258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerpride89/pseuds/badgerpride89
Summary: Nine months after the collider, Miles has been meeting up with Gwen and Peter for lunch every Saturday. Naturally, this attracts his parents' attention.In which Jefferson meets and accidentally bonds with two more spider-people while Miles tries to not die of embarrassment, Gwen tries to maintain their cover, and Peter thinks the whole situation is hysterical.





	Lay it on the Line

“I’m out,” Miles yells as he stuffs his foot into his shoe while making a beeline for the door.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on there,” his dad calls as he grabs one of Miles’ shoulders.

Miles suppresses a groan. He’s already cutting things close; Gwen and Peter will be locking onto his hopper any minute now.

“Yeah, Dad?” he asks, trying not to pout. He very nearly succeeds.

“Where you going?”

“The burger joint on 5th and Cox.”

“How long you gonna be there?”

Miles shrugs. “I dunno, a couple of hours?”

“And who’s going to be there?”

“Just some friends,” Miles says then winces.

Wrong answer.

His dad pounces. “And which friends would those be?”

“Dad-”

“Have we met those friends?”

“Dad, seriously-”

“Which ones, Miles?” There’s a hard edge to his voice that Miles is all too familiar with.

“Just a friend from school,” Miles reiterates.

His dad’s eyes narrow. “You know the rules, Miles. You wanna go out with your friends, that’s fine but your mom or I have to meet them first.”

Miles sighs because, yes, that’s the rule but come on, how exactly is he supposed to introduce his parents to Gwen, let alone Peter?

His dad looks like he’s about to say something but he visibly checks himself. He takes a deep breath then says, “Look, we trust you, Miles, we really do, you’ve been doing great the last year but we want to know who you’re hanging out with. We want to know about that part of your life so that we can help keep you safe. We’re your parents, that’s our job. You been going out every weekend for the last two months- which is fine,” he repeats at Miles’ look, “- but we want to know who you’re seeing.”

His dad waits, staring him down. Miles tries to slow his breathing and his brain. His mental clock continues ticking down. He has to end this fast, has to get somewhere where Gwen and Peter can materialize without notice. They appear here, now, and it’s all over. His dad is waiting. His right eye is twitching impatiently. Miles is _this_ close to a grounding. He weighs his options. Them in his apartment is gonna cause way more problems than this one issue with his dad.

Fist stuck to his pants, Miles blurts out, “Wanna come with?”

What. the. hell. self?

His dad looks taken aback, like this is the last thing he expected.

That makes two of them. But Miles can’t back out now, not with his spider career and the secrets of the multiverse on the line. His heart pounds in his chest.

His dad takes forever but slowly, a smile creeps onto his face, like he’s proud of Miles or something. In spite of the utterly ridiculous situation, Miles feels that pride seep into him.

“Lead the way.”

* * *

Of course when they walk into the joint, Peter and Gwen are nowhere to be seen. Miles thanks every lucky star he has for watching out for him. His dad takes a booth and Miles begs off to the restroom.

Thankfully, it’s empty. He exhales and webs the door shut. He rolls his sleeve up past the hopper and dials Peter and Gwen.

Both of them answer with confusion; they were probably about to hop themselves to him.

He explains in a rush what’s happening.

Gwen, good friend that she is, winces in sympathy. Peter, soon to be least favorite spider, just laughs and laughs.

“Peter!” Gwen hisses after a few seconds. “This is not funny.”

Peter composes himself and shakes his head. “Give it about fifteen years, you’ll get it.”

“Can we focus?” Miles pleads. Any second now, someone’s gonna try to get into the bathroom. Knowing his normal luck, that someone will be his dad.

Peter puts his fingers to his chin then nods to himself. “It’ll be okay, Miles,” he reassures him, then asks Gwen, “You remember stuff about that school?”

“Enough,” she confirms.

“Good, okay, then. Miles, we’re gonna hop over real quick. Give us a sec, all right?”

Miles manages not to hyperventilate as his friends drop the call. The second the hop completes, Peter draws him into a warm hug. Miles finally manages to calm down, if just a little.

“It’s okay, Miles,” he repeats then pulls away. “You go back out to your dad. Gwen and I’ll come in the front door. She’s your friend from school, I’m just her scientist uncle you’ve met a few times, okay?”

It’s times like these that Miles really, truly _gets_ how long Peter’s been doing this and is so grateful to have him in his life. The story’s simple and as close to the truth as it can be; Miles won’t need to lie about much - not like they’re gonna talk shop with his dad right there.

Miles composes himself and nods. Gwen smiles and takes a box cutter to the webbing on the door.

He reaches for the handle and Gwen gives him a one-armed hug, “See you in a minute, Spider-Man.”

He nods. He can totally do this.

* * *

He totally can’t do this. He slinks into the seat opposite his dad and tries not to fidget. His dad’s done looking at the menu and is eyeing every person who walks through the door. The seconds pass like hours. Sometimes he hates his spider-powers.

“They always this late?” his dad asks, in a bid to start a conversation.

Miles shrugs, his palms sweating. “You know the subway’s been messed up lately.” He thinks he manages to curb the defensiveness from his voice.

Judging from his dad’s look, he doesn’t quite succeed.

A loud “Miles!” saves him. Thank god. From his dad’s expression, whatever he’s expecting, it is not a blonde white girl with an eyebrow piercing in dark leggings and a long, teal, pullover sweater.

Gwen slides in next to him as he manages a single “Hey.” She snorts and is about to introduce herself when the teens notice Miles’ dad is fixated on Peter. He’s dressed like a normal dude- jeans, a white polo, and blue jacket- he fits in decently, so what- oh no.

“You look remarkably like Peter Parker,” his dad says, astonished and completely forgetting his manners.

Shit, shit, shit, shit-

A beat.

Peter shrugs. “I get that a lot.”

Wait, that can’t actually work, can it? No way is that gonna work. Gwen elbows Miles beneath the table. Right, calm down, focus.

The line totally works. His dad nods and shakes Peter’s outstretched hand.

“Ben Reilly. I’m Gwen’s uncle,” Peter introduces himself.

Wait. Gwen’s Uncle Ben? Omigod, Miles thinks as he desperately tries not to laugh. Gwen’s smiling at him, in on the joke, while Peter focuses on his dad.

“Jeff Davis,” he returns. “Miles’ dad.”

“Nice to meet you,” Peter says then winks at the kids. “You kids comfy or…”

Miles blushes at his tone and edges a bit away from Gwen, who’s staring down Peter with a scowl. Dad raises an eyebrow at their reactions and god, Miles wants to crawl into a hole at the conclusions he’s drawing. Gwen nudges him as his dad shifts over and Peter takes a seat.

Miles breathes for a few seconds when the waiter comes to take their drink order. Once she walks away, his dad turns his attention to Gwen.

“So, you’re Gwen.” Miles tries not to wince at the cop tone.

Gwen takes it with grace. “Yes, I’m Gwen Stacy, sir,” she says like she talks to cops every day. Which, okay, they all do but- Oh. Right, she’s a cop kid too. She probably hears that tone a lot.

Miles relaxes a little at that.

“And where do you go school?”

“Visions Academy. Miles and I met in physics last semester.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Dad,” Miles interjects, “she helped me with that big project at the start of the semester.”

He hopes that shuts his dad down from asking too many questions. His stomach churns at using his uncle’s death like this but really, he thinks Uncle Aaron wouldn’t mind under the circumstances.

“Well, uh, thank you for that,” Dad tells Gwen.

“It’s my pleasure,” Gwen replies as the waiter mercifully returns with their drinks and asks their meal orders. Miles’ eyes widen at the size of Peter’s order- it’s enough for two, maybe three people. Gwen’s also got a look, though hers is more a sneer. The waiter leaves and Peter calls him out.

“What’s with the look, kid? Gotta support local business, otherwise it’s all just chain after chain and before you know it, nothing good’s left.”

Miles’ dad nods and puts his drink down. “Thank you,” he agrees forcefully. “Finally, somebody talking some sense. Everybody’s all Foam Party this and Foam Party that and meanwhile, what they doing? Putting Lee’s Cafe and Corner Store out of business, that’s what. It’s not even that good a coffee-”

“Oh, man, do I get that,” Peter replies and suddenly the two are off on their own little tangent.

Miles stares at them for a moment. “This is really weird, right?” he whispers to Gwen.

“Totally.”

“Good, it’s not just me.”

Because, seriously. Like, he knows Peter is old but he has never connected him and ‘fully fledged adult his dad’s age with similar Old Guy Opinions, capital O,’ and stuff like that. It’s...really disconcerting. Like, yeah, Peter’s grey and arguably the best spider out there - nothing Miles asks about the job phases him, nothing - and he knows a lot but still. It’s hard to reconcile that Peter with the adult his dad’s age, probably with friends his dad’s age and doing adult stuff, like a nine to eight job or paying rent or paying attention to who’s on the local school board. Like suddenly, Peter’s a fully fledged person with a completely separate side outside Spider-Man and helping Miles, Gwen, and whoever comes calling. Yet, watching him, Peter’s...comfortable, making small talk, asking about Dad’s time on the force, like he does this every day. And he probably does. This is super weird. But good.

A couple minutes into their conversation, Gwen pulls out her smartphone and hands Miles an earbud. “You said you wanted to hear the song we recorded, right?”

Miles jerkily takes the earbud and listens, relaxing as the song plays. Gwen’s beats are the heart and soul of the music, spurring it on and almost obscuring the lead singer’s lack of talent. He’s been telling Gwen for weeks they need a new one but she just laughs at him and says that isn’t the point.

It ends. Miles grins at her and returns her earbud. “It’s great. Your drum solo is tight.”

“Thanks,” she replies then lowers her voice. “The band got a gig next week. It’s nothing much, just a party at school but you think you want to come?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah, that’d be cool.” He doesn’t travel often to the other dimensions, mostly because Gwen and Peter come to him, so this would be a great change of pace.

“So, you’re in a band then?” Dad asks and Miles tries not to groan.

Gwen turns her attention back to the adults. Peter raises his eyebrows and shrugs just out of Dad’s line of vision, like ‘what can you do.’

“I’m the drummer for the, uh, well, we’re still working out the name,” Gwen says sheepishly because she, like Miles, knows that too many specific details will just leave a trail for his dad to follow to a dead end. They’re trying to minimize his suspicions, not give him more.

“Really? You know, back in my day, I was a drummer, too, wasn’t I, Miles?”

Miles stifles a groan. “Dad, that was the school band, it’s not the same thing,” he says as he drops his face into his arms.

His dad starts teasing. “Oh? Is band not cool enough for you, Miles?”

“That’s not-”

“Band teaches you responsibility-”

“Uh huh.”

“-leadership-”

“And how to prioritize,” Miles finishes with his dad and shakes his head.

Peter looks at him in fond amusement and interjects, “Wow, between you three, I’m starting to feel a little left out. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, except maybe a little photography.”

The waiter drops off their food and for a few moments, Miles can almost pretend it’s a normal Saturday. Then again, Peter isn’t stealing his fries and Gwen isn’t acting like a perfectly normal koca-soda flavor is out to get her so...Almost.

“So what is it you do, Mr. Reilly?” Dad asks.

“I’m a chemical engineer,” Peter says in between bites. Wait, what? “My firm’s working on reverse-engineering Spider-Man’s web strands for industrial cabling and stuff.”

Miles honestly can’t tell whether Peter’s bullshitting or not. Gwen neither, judging by her barely concealed shock. It shouldn’t surprise him too much, the other guy was getting his PhD in chemical engineering when he died, but seriously, what is this?

And of course his dad latches onto the Spider-Man comment with a scowl. “Spider-Man. Don’t get me started on the new one.”

Peter shoots Miles a meaningful look. Miles just wants to slide under the table.

Miles interrupts before Peter can get a word in, “Come on, Dad, nobody wants to hear about Spider-Man, can we just have lunch?”

“No, no, I’m interested,” Peter says as he finishes his burger. “What’s the problem with the new guy? I mean, even the last one had to start somewhere.”

“Yeah, but the last one could plausibly pass as an adult- this new one, if he’s over fifteen, I’ll buy a Foam coffee. This kid is out there, swinging around like he owns the joint and getting into all sorts of trouble. Last week the Vulture flew the kid into the pavement from a thirty story building, for pete’s sake.”

“Oh, really?” Peter drawls with a pointed look at Miles. Gwen kicks Miles hard in the shin. Given that she’s a dancer, it hurts a lot.

Miles really wants to die right now. Really, just strike him down now, that would be great. Because, yes, that did happen, and no, he hadn’t told anybody because it had been embarrassing, panicking like that and not getting a web up in time. Anyway, wasn’t any landing you walked away from a good one?

“So you’d be okay with him if the kid was legal?” Peter asks skeptically.

“No, but I wouldn’t be worrying what his parent or guardian is doing with their life that they don’t notice their kid pulling these kinds of stunts.”

Okay, ouch. Seriously, that hurts. His parents are the best and to find out his dad thinks that, will think that about himself if he ever finds out, gets Miles right in the gut.

He’s done eating. Gwen pats his knee under the table and looks at him in understanding. No one ever told him that being Spider-Man comes with so much guilt.

“Could be the kid’s doing exactly what his folks taught him: the right thing,” Peter lightly disagrees. “I mean, far be from me to tell you how to do your job but are the police really equipped to deal with someone like the Vulture? Or that collider-gizmo thingy a while back?”

Dad scowls and goes back to his burger, conceding the point. Miles exhales quietly.

Gwen seizes the moment. “Speaking of Spider-Man,” she says slowly then turns to Miles. “Wasn’t there a comic book store nearby? I want to see if they’ve got any new issues in.”

Miles nods. “Yeah, it’s a block or two but I don’t think they’ve published any Spider-Man since Peter Parker died.”

“Probably a copyrights thing, intellectual property law’s a headache,” Peter comments while Gwen gives Miles a pointed look, her eyes darting between him and his dad.

Oh. Right.

“They’ve started the Elseworlds books, though, like stories about other spider-people,” he stammers quickly.

Not the new guy, though, because everyone’s well aware that he’s a real person and can die just like the old one. But just the idea of another Spider-Man has sparked the comic writers into creating whole new characters and scenarios.

“Let’s see what they’ve got,” Gwen replies, intrigued, and stands.

Miles glances at his dad, who smiles and waves him off. “Go on, then. Be back for dinner. I love you.”

“Love you too, Dad,” Miles says with a smile and leads Gwen out of the restaurant.

Down the street, Miles takes a deep breath. God, he cannot believe they just got away with that. They did just get away with that, right?

“Are we sure it’s a good idea leaving Peter alone with my dad?” he asks Gwen tentatively.

“You wanna go back in there?”

“Heck, no.”

“Then we’re good. Besides, Peter seemed to have a handle on it. Surprisingly.”

“Yeah, that was kinda weird,” Miles agrees then asks, “So, about that gig?”

Gwen giggles. “I’ll text you the details. Nothing formal, just nice.”

“Great.”

“Awesome.” A beat. “So where’s this comic shop?”

* * *

Peter watches the kids leave, warm fondness in his chest. They’re good kids. It’s easy to see where Miles got his earnestness to do right from, now that he’s met his dad. Davis watches them until they disappear around the corner, his expression inscrutable. Peter flags down the waiter for a to-go bag- MJ misses this place almost as much as he does- and the check.

Davis rouses. “We’ll split that-”

Peter waves him off. “Nah, it’s my turn, I got it.”

May had given Gwen and him each a large wad of cash weeks ago, the better to not have to mooch off a fourteen-year-old. He’d asked but she’s not hurting for money - donations are still pouring in for poor Peter Parker’s aunt and widow. Most of that money goes to science and community service scholarships but the two women still have more than enough to live on.

The rest of Peter’s sentence catches up to him.

“Your turn?” Davis says, slow and drawn out. Peter can see why Miles has a hard time lying to him.

“Gwen lets me tag along sometimes,” he says, “provided, of course, that I pay for her and Miles like the cool uncle I am.” The last bit has a little edge of sarcasm, a little ‘teenagers, right?’ between the lines.

Davis just looks a little upset. “Miles hasn’t mentioned Gwen or you before.” There’s a note of suspicion but it’s drowned out by tightly restrained hurt.

Which Peter gets. He winces in sympathy and makes a decision. The kids can hang him later. “Gwen asked me to help her with that physics project,” he starts quietly. “Next thing I know she’s asking me to bring her here to hang out with Miles. After she _lost_ her friend a while back…”

He trails off, wondering just how Gwen dealt with her best friend’s death. How much her family really noticed. Alternate dimension or no, he’s ready to read them the riot act if if they just let that girl hide her pain and bury herself.

Davis has a knowing look on his face and Peter continues, “Anyway, we were all real worried about her so when she asked me, I mean, how could I say no? She was making friends again. And Miles is such a great kid- they’ve been really good for each other. So I’ve been helping them out, mentoring them when they need it. The world could use more people like them.”

It doesn’t answer Davis’ question, why Miles chose not to say anything but Peter hopes it brings him some clarity and peace, at least on this front. It’s even true. Mostly.

“Do you have kids, Mr. Reilly?” Davis asks quietly.

“Uh, no, not yet,” Peter replies.

He and MJ haven’t discussed it again. Yet. Boy is that not a conversation he’s looking forward to. Then again when they do have it, it means they’re in it for the long haul again, right? He certainly hopes so.

“When your fourteen-year-old son is keeping secrets about a girl he likes, something that- that simple, it makes you wonder what bigger things he isn’t telling you. And you can try not being suspicious, try trusting him, but it’s always in the back of your head. And you don’t get to see him most days ‘cause he’s at school, with that girl and you just…”

Peter’s really not sure where he’s going with this. “Are, are you worried about Miles and Gwen-” he stammers. Really, because ‘teenage boy doesn’t want to tell his parents about his crush’ as a plausible cover story works but not if Davis is going to take it so seriously.

“Heh, no, not really. It’s just, if your son isn’t coming to you over something like this it makes you wonder what serious stuff he’s holding back.”

Peter could point out how crushes and such are serious business to teenagers, he remembers that part of high school far too well, but he knows that isn’t the point. He can’t even reassure Davis because yeah, Miles is hiding something much bigger than a crush and Peter really doesn’t like lying more than he has to. Especially when the kid will have to deal with the fallout, not him.

“You worry about him,” he replies. “I get that. It’s not, like, a character flaw or anything.”

Davis chuckles. “Thanks, I just...sometimes I just don’t know what to do.”

“If it helps, I’m told that’s normal? And never really goes away?” He hates therapy but occasionally his therapist will have a point.

“Yeah,” Davis says, looking thoughtfully into the middle distance.

Peter stands and fiddles with his wallet to leave the tip when Davis stops him. “I’ll take it,” he says and leaves a ten.

Peter grabs his to-go bag and says, “Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Davis.”

“Jeff. You as well, Mr. Reilly.”

“Ben.”

They pause a moment.

“You going to break them up?” Jeff asks.

Peter shakes his head. “Nah. Gwen’ll make it back fine on her own. I gotta get back home. See ya around.”

“See you.”

They shake hands, exit the burger joint, and go their separate ways- Jeff towards his apartment, Peter towards a quiet alleyway where he can hop home.

He really hopes things work out better between Miles and his dad. At the same time, he feels a bit guilty, knowing that if Jeff ever does discover who Miles is, he’ll remember this lunch and see it as the diversion it really is. It kinda turns his stomach, these moments that remind Peter just how messed up this superhero thing can be. If anything happens to those kids, or any of the others... But then he remembers Gwen’s steadiness and Miles’ energy and that he wouldn’t have any of it without the spider-gig in the first place. When the day comes that Jeff Davis learns all, they’ll deal with it. Until then, he’ll help keep Miles alive and whole long enough for his dad to find out. It’s the least he can do.


End file.
